Innes, Annabella Alexandra Campbell (1826 - 1916)

Annabella Alexandra Campbell Innes was a diarist and accomplished flower painter who grew up in central west New South Wales before moving to Port Macquarie.

ln January 1843, after her father's death, 16-year-old Annabella Innes moved with her mother and sister to Port Macquarie and Lake Innes House, the home of her uncle, Major Archibald C. Innes, the police magistrate for the area. He also developed pastoral properties, established vineyards, grew sugar cane and managed a local hotel. He used convict labour to build and run his estate.

Like many young women of her class, Annabella spent her time studying arithmetic and dictation, painting and dravving, socialising, gardening, riding and walking. She developed a strong interest in the environment around Lake Innes, producing botanical watercolours and recording detailed observations of her world in her diary.

Annabella was taught to paint by her aunts, Fanny and Margaret. She learned technique by copying their work and illustrations in books. Inspired by the local environment and determined to improve, she and her cousin, Dido, resolved to paint at least one wildflower per week.

Annabella left Lake Innes House in 1848 and married Patrick Boswell in 1856. The family, which grew to include four children, then moved to Scotland. ln 1908 Annabella published Some Recollections of My Ealrly Days. The book contains edited entries from her journals written between 1843 and 1848 while living at Lake Innes House, and comments she made as she reflected on her teenage years.